


Bronx Zoo

by dyingpoet



Series: Sprace one shots [15]
Category: Newsies - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Field Trip, Literally so self indulgent, M/M, One Shot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-25
Updated: 2018-07-25
Packaged: 2019-06-16 00:06:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,143
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15424635
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dyingpoet/pseuds/dyingpoet
Summary: Race gets separated from his group on a field trip and runs into someone in a similar position





	Bronx Zoo

**Author's Note:**

> I haven't written for these two ages and it probably sucks but that's just the way sometimes

Jack had literally been the one to make a big deal about everyone sticking together and not getting lost. He had actually looked Race directly in the eyes and said he was not letting anyone get seperated this time around. They both remembered the horrifying Crutchie Disappearance of 2017 and were not emotionally ready for a repeat.

But what had Jack Kelly done the second they got off the bus at Bronx Zoo? 

Bolted. Disappeared into the crowds of people with Crutchie on one arm and Davey on the other, leaving Race standing confused at the bathrooms after being gone for what couldn’t have been longer than three minutes.

The best part of it, he decided, walking toward that big informational map right inside the gate, was that this was supposed to be a ‘tech free’ field trip. Meaning that all their phones had been taken before they left school and they were on their own until the buses left at two. So, he had to just sort of walk around aimlessly for the next six hours until he ran into someone from his group.

But ah, it got better. Shielding his eyes from the sun he looked at the sign right above the map, he read:  _ Bronx Zoo is the largest metropolitan zoo in the United States and among the largest in the world! _

“Just perfect,” he mumbled to himself. He was tracing out a general route through the zoo, he was at the Southern Boulevard Gate, and trying to figure out where he what exhibit he was most likely to find Jack at when someone cleared their throat behind him.

“Racetrack, right?”

Spot Conlon as he lived and breathed was standing in front of him, alone, holding on of those little paper maps and staring at him intently. Race was so startled by his sudden appearance it took him a few seconds to process that he’d asked a question. 

“Right. Spot Conlon yeah?”

Spot nodded and rocked back on his heels. Race thought he almost looked a little uncomfortable, which was weird considering he was probably one of the toughest guys in their year and had been the one who’d started the conversation. 

Tilting his head, Spot looked conflicted before he opened his mouth. “You got separated from your group too then?”

“Yeah, Jack, Davey and Crutch.”

“Mine was Oscar and Morris,” Spot said tersely, “Pretty much bailed so I’d have to do the project thingy by myself.” He waved a notebook and the packet Mr. Denton gave them before they left.

Crutchie had theirs, and they needed a mix of handwriting or they wouldn’t get credit. Fuck.

“Sounds about right,” Race said, somehow becoming the one in need all the sudden. “Crutchie has ours.”

He trailed off lamely and Spot rolled his eyes. “You got a pencil?”

“Yeah.”

“Then let’s go.”

Race blinked for a second as Spot started down one of the paths into the heart of the zoo. He had no idea what just happened, but he guessed had a new partner. One who was not slowing down and was looking over his shoulder at the frozen Race. 

“Coming!” Race shouted before breaking into a jog. This was turning out about as well as he thought it would honestly.

* * *

 

“So we really just have to write down the physical and behavioral similarities of animals in the same habitat.”

“How many habitats are there?”

“Seven.”

Race groaned and kicked at a pebble while they walked. They’d been walking for a few minutes and he’d remembered too late that his jacket was still on the bus and he was freezing now. It was 50 degrees yeah, but there was a steady wind and it felt like 40. 

He wrapped his arms around himself. “Do you wanna do the savannah first? We’re about to pass it.”

Spot nodded and gave Race a sidelong glance before picking up the pace a bit.

He really wasn’t a bad guy, Race thought as they turned toward the lion enclosure. Despite not knowing much about each other they talked for a little about how much they hated Oscar and Morris; Spot had been absent the day everyone picked group and got stuck with them. Race told him about the time he broke his nose with a baseball freshman year and stopped himself from talking about ho they’d beaten up Crutchie that same year when the muscles in Spot’s jaw tightened and he went frighteningly silent.

Apparently he’d known Romeo for a really long time too, and Race had managed to lighten the conversation a bit by trading embarrassing rejections they’d witnessed over the years. 

Not the most complex of friendships, but they were civil. It could have been worse.

Race was so lost in thought he ran smack into Spot’s back after he stopped at the informational plate in front of the lion enclosure. 

He smiled weakly at Spot’s furrowed brow. “Don’t mind me Conlon.”

“I won’t, we had sophomore gym together, remember?” Spot asked with a smirk, “Athletics were never really your strong suit.”

“Hey! I grew a lot the summer before that year, my coordination was all off.”

Spot laughed, a sound Race had never heard before which sounded more like bells than he would have thought, and turned back to the plate.

“Whatever you say, just help me write this down.”

Race did, and they managed to get through most of the savannah pretty quick. It was mostly a common sense connection once you got some general facts down, and they were on their way to the tundra in less than half an hour.

And they  _ really  _ went for realism in the habitats because the closer they got the colder Race got and the harder it got for him to keep from shivering. 

Once his teeth started chattering Spot stopped in his tracks and started taking off his jacket. “Jesus Christ Race, why didn’t you bring a jacket?”

“Forgot it on the bus,” Race said. He shook his head when Spot held his jacket out and took a step back. “You need it, keep it.”

Another eyeroll and Spot held it out stubbornly. “I don’t get cold easily, and if you don’t take it I’ll just tie it around my waist and neither of us will get it.”

They stood there for a couple seconds, just staring at each other, until Race took the jacket with a huff and started putting it on. “Just so you know, it’s small on me.”

“Shut it.”

* * *

 

By lunch they’d knocked out five of the seven habitats and were working on doing the other two while they ate so they could just walk around until they had to leave. 

Race bit into his sandwich while Spot started making a list for the rainforest; they had that and the desert left. 

“So obviously all of their colors blend in with the colors of the rainforest, green and brown for the trees and brighter colors go with the flowers and stuff,” Spot said. His hand was moving quickly across the page and Race found himself sort of infatuated with his handwriting, a weird mixture between printing and cursive that  _ looked _ smart. “What’s that bird? The one with the long beak and the black feathers?”

Spot cocked his head and frowned at the page for a few seconds before looking at Race, who swallowed quickly and shifted in his seat. 

“The toucan?”

He must’ve been right, because Spot broke into a grin and nodded as he started writing again. It was weirdly hypnotizing, how focused Spot was while he wrote. His shoulders were all hunched over and curls were falling in front of his eyes. A specific article of clothing would burst into flames if he didn’t let a small part of him admit it was cute. 

After about five minutes though, Spot finished up and broke Race out of his weird spell, passing him the packet and notebook before standing up. 

He wrung out his hand with a slightly pained expression. “Here, I’m gonna go buy something to eat. You can finish up the desert and then we’re set.”

Race watched him walk away, probably for a little longer than he should have, before turning to the last page of the packet and starting in on some bullshit about camels and rattlesnakes. 

Even though he wasn’t doing fantastic in biology, the questions were easy enough that even he felt himself breezing through them. The last one asked how he thought humans had adapted to their environments in comparison to less intelligent animal species, and as he was wont to do, he started ranting pretty quickly. 

He’d always hated the idea that humans considered all other animal species to be inferior despite them being able to do things humans even couldn’t. Like how there was a type of shrimp that could see more colors than the human eye could process, or a bald eagle’s eyesight was 4-8 times stronger than the average human’s. 

So focused was he in fact, that he didn’t notice when Spot started reading over his shoulder, and when he finally put the pencil down he turned his head so fast their chins smacked together. 

“Oh fuck, I’m sorry,” Race said quickly, “I didn’t see you man-”

Spot waved him off, looking more amused than anything. “You’re good, I was just trying to read what you wrote.”

Self conscious all the sudden, Race laughed awkwardly and played with the torn edge of their packet. He’d always been sort of shy about school stuff, especially when he was friends with Davey and Crutchie who were first and second in their class. Jack didn’t get better grades than him really, but he was better with words than Race could ever be and it left him feeling a little inferior sometimes. 

“It’s not really anything, I sort of missed the question actually.”

“No, I like it,” Spot said forcefully. He grabbed the paper and skimmed his eyes over Race’s answer again, quickly. “It’s really interesting actually, and you made it easy to understand what you were trying to say.”

Handing the paper back to Race, he shoved smiled and looked down awkwardly once he saw what was probably an awed look on Race’s face. It wasn’t even the compliment itself, just the fact that he’d never heard Spot Conlon compliment anyone, and even look oddly nervous afterward? It was a Twilight Zone episode if he ever saw one. 

“C’mon, we got some time to kill, let’s go look at the alligators or something.”

Race blinked and took a second to collect his thoughts before jogging after Spot as he headed in the general direction of the wetlands. 

“Wait up!”

* * *

 

Race was laughing at a joke Spot mad about the Delancey’s, more a really crude insult than a joke actually, when they got on the bus back to school.

He connected eyes with Jack a couple rows down, who frantically waved him down and had the decency to look apologetic for abandoning him for six hours in the middle of the nation’s largest metropolitan zoo. 

Just to piss Jack off he made to sit down in the seat next to Spot, but was shoved roughly forward before he got the chance. 

Spot was looking pointedly at him and nodded in Jack’s direction. “Go kiss and make up Higgins, I’ll turn this in when we get back.”

“Oh, okay,” Race said, albeit slightly deflated, “Thanks Spot.”

“No problem.”

When Race lingered a bit longer Spot rolled his eyes and shoved him forward again, putting his headphones in and moving to sit closer to the window.

Walking back and collapsing into the seat in front of Jack, he waved off Jack’s apologies, and Crutchie and Davey’s more sincere apologies, he caught himsef glancing toward the front and sort of wishing he’d just sat down.

“So you walked around the whole say with Spot Conlon?” Jack asked, “How was it?”

Race turned to look at Jack’s wide eyes and fought to keep his own face neutral.

“Not bad.”

* * *

 

When they got back to school Race got two steps off the bus before being roughly shoulder checked into Jack. He couldn’t see who it was but Morris was a close enough distance and enough of a jerk that he could make a wild guess.

“Watch it, asshole!” Jack yelled. He slung an arm around Race, Crutchie crowding his other side, Davey falling in step behind him.

A breeze came in, and he shoved his hands in his pockets without thinking, and felt a slip of paper. 

Frowning, he took it out and opened it. He broke into a grin while he read and shoved it back into his pocket before Jack could snatch it away. It felt warm to the touch.

_ I’m gonna need that jacket back. Text me 718-826-5341, we can grab coffee _

**Author's Note:**

> I got the idea for this from a general prompt on tumblr and i hope you enjoyed but even if you didnt hit that kudos button bc it's not hurting anybody :)


End file.
